Huang Xingliang knocked on the wood and asked, “Li Yunfeng, do you know your crime? Because of your shocking actions, Furongzhou was plagued with disease. Countless people lost their families because of you.”
He knew it. Why would there be a plague out of nowhere? All of this was caused by Minister Li. He couldn’t bear to let his wife leave, but he had killed many other people’s wives. This was a serious crime among serious crimes.
Minister Li slowly raised his head and asked, “Where’s my wife’s corpse?”
He did not expect that even though he dealt with it carefully, they still saw through it. When he woke up, everything had changed.
When Minister Li asked about the corpse, Huang Xingliang slapped the table heavily.
Minister Li slowly said, “Sir, if I confess, can you return my wife to me? Actually, I should be the first person to contract the plague. I’ve been repeatedly infected and healed. I’ve specially studied the plague. With a resistant body like mine, my blood can develop an antidote.”
“Return my wife to me and let her rest in peace. Then, I’ll cooperate with you.”
Minister Li looked at Huang Xingliang firmly. He had the intention to fight to the death if they did not satisfy his request.
Huang Xingliang’s expression was cold. “How dare you threaten me!”
Minister Li took out a bottle of medicine from his pocket and said, “Sir, I don’t dare to threaten you. I just want my wife to rest in peace.”
Huang Xingliang frowned. If this had happened earlier, there wouldn’t have been a plague.
Huang Xingliang looked at Zhou Zhi and asked, “Your Highness, this…”
Zhou Zhi said calmly, “I agree with your request. Now, tell me, when did you contract the disease?”
Minister Li slowly lowered his head and said slowly, “Two months ago, my wife was seriously ill and couldn’t get out of bed. I’ve tried all the methods I could think of, but she still weakened day by day. The number of times she woke up decreased. On the morning of the sixth day of June, when I woke up, I realized that she had already left… From that day onwards, I didn’t let the servants enter the main courtyard. Every day, my meals were delivered to the entrance of the main courtyard.”
“Perhaps there were too many things that I couldn’t let go of. I didn’t mourn, so I treated it as if she was still around. I washed her hair and changed her clothes. She just looked like she was asleep and didn’t look dead at all… I also felt that she was asleep. It wasn’t until she started to have livor mortis and start to rot that I realized that she was dead. But so what? She accompanied me for my entire life. She just died physically. I firmly believe that her soul is still by my side.”
“Later on, rats came to bite her body. I killed the rats and was bitten by them. Perhaps it was because of this that I contracted the plague. At first, my throat hurt very much and I wanted to cough all day. Later, it was a fever. I lay beside her and thought that it would be good even if I went like this. At least we could still meet when we reached hell. During those four days, I barely drank a drop of water. The food sent by the servants was quietly poured out by me. I thought I was going to die, but I didn’t expect to recover.”
“After I recovered, I was afraid that the rats would come and eat her body again, so I scraped her body clean myself. I remembered that she liked the buns I made when she was alive, so I made some buns to commemorate her that day. Coincidentally, someone sent firewood to me those few days, so I gave the buns to him to eat. Later, I heard from a servant that Furongzhou had a plague and the entire city was under martial law. Those symptoms were exactly the same as when I was sick. Only then did I realize that the plague might have transmigrated from me.”
Minister Li slowly recounted the entire incident. During this period, he paused several times. Speaking of his wife, he would choke up.
He didn’t want to spread the plague. He just wanted to keep his wife by his side.
After hearing Minister Li’s words, Huang Xingliang sighed softly. Although it was very pitiful for Minister Li to lose his lover, it was because of him that hundreds of families in Furongzhou were destroyed. He was to blame.
“Your Highness, I’ve said everything I need to say. Please be lenient and let my wife rest in peace.”
Minister Li bent down and kowtowed. He knew that after the matter was investigated, he could no longer stay. Even if he was convicted, he would admit it. He only wanted her to rest in peace.
He would bear all the consequences.
Huang Xingliang was also waiting for Zhou Zhi to speak. Zhou Zhi was in charge of this matter, so he just had to listen to Zhou Zhi’s orders.
Zhou Zhi looked at Minister Li and said, “I agree with your request. As long as you cooperate with the doctor to develop an antidote, after the plague disappears, I’ll allow the two of you to share a tomb.”
Even if Minister Li did not do it on purpose, the plague still arose because of him. Therefore, Minister Li had to be convicted. If he could not keep his life, allowing the couple to be buried together was already the greatest kindness.
Minister Li kowtowed solemnly to thank him. “Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness.”
Minister Li also knew that this was the best outcome. He was already satisfied.
The person who accompanied him was gone. There was nothing in this world for him to miss. If he lost his life, so be it.
“There’s no time to lose. Bring him to the Ji Shi Hall and let the doctors develop the antidote as soon as possible.”
Zhou Zhi instructed Huang Xingliang.
Huang Xingliang nodded and immediately got someone to bring Minister Li away.
Huang Xingliang also stood up and left. The source of the plague had been found, but there were nearly a thousand people infected with the plague in the city. In terms of prevention and control, they still had to be strictly controlled.
Su Xiaolu also stood up and said to Zhou Zhi, “Then I’ll go back to the Ji Shi Hall too. I can save more people by developing the antidote as soon as possible.”
Zhou Zhi also stood up and nodded. There was a faint smile in his eyes. “Alright, go ahead. If there’s anything, you can look for me directly.”
Su Xiaolu nodded and turned to leave.
As soon as Su Xiaolu left, Zhou Zhi fell into his seat. Jin Wu, who was behind him, quickly supported him.
“Jin Wu, let’s go back.”
Zhou Zhi’s voice was trembling. His tolerance was about to reach its limit.
Jin Wu hurriedly carried Zhou Zhi back to the residence.
As soon as they returned to the residence, Jin Wu shouted, “Quickly invite Doctor Wu over.”
Zhou Zhi was already unconscious. His body trembled uncontrollably and he broke out in cold sweat.
Doctor Wu rushed over and cut off the blood-soaked gauze without a word to clean Zhou Zhi’s wound. During this period, Zhou Zhi woke up in pain. He took the medicine bottle by the bed with trembling hands, removed the stopper, and poured the pill into his mouth.
“Now you know the pain, why didn’t you be more careful earlier?”
Doctor Wu frowned and grumbled.
Zhou Zhi smiled and said weakly, “You don’t understand, doctor.”
As Doctor Wu applied the medicine on Zhou Zhi, he wrapped the gauze around him. He snorted. “What don’t I understand? It’s just the matter between men and women. I really don’t know what I don’t understand. Master said I don’t understand. Is it worth it for His Highness to take the risk of cutting off his limbs for this?”
